This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the subject matter described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, not as admissions of prior art.
Coiled tubing drilling provides many significant advantages for drillers seeking to penetrate geotechnical stratum. Conventional coiled tubing drilling utilizes a flexible tubing that is wound around a spindle. At the bottom end of the coiled tubing, a drill bit may rotate, grinding the formation contacted into fragments. The fragments are removed from the resulting borehole by flushing the fragments from the bottom of the borehole with a fluid up the borehole to the surface.
To reach differing areas inside the geotechnical stratums, it is sometimes necessary to drill at orientations other than from the vertical. Coiled tubing may use a housing that allows the drill bit to be at an angle compared to the remainder of the coiled tubing apparatus. The angled or “bent” housing allows drillers to drill the borehole at a deviated angle compared to the vertical.
While drilling deviated wellbores has many advantages, some significant drawbacks are present. Deviated wellbores can cause binding on the coiled tubing apparatus. The binding can get worse with increasing wellbore deviation as the coiled tubing increasingly contacts the sides of the wellbore.
Binding may increase to such a point that the coiled tubing becomes stuck in the wellbore. When the coiled tubing gets stuck, retrieval of the apparatus is necessary but can sometimes be difficult or even impossible. The drill bit and associated downhole hardware may be disconnected from the remainder of the coiled tubing so the coiled tubing can be quickly and safely recovered. To recover the bottom section of the coiled tubing drilling apparatus, a separate tool may be used to latch to the stuck bottom section. The specialized tool allows operators to exert a larger tensile capacity on the stuck components, breaking the frictional forces on the stuck components.
Many downhole applications may utilize differing disconnects. These disconnects can use a tensile, electrical or hydraulic arrangement or a combination of these disconnect technologies. Conventional technologies, however, do not provide a reliable and economical disconnect capability.